Let’s say you’ve built a set of automations for your network infrastructure, and now you want teams or departments within your organization to use those automations. Our Tech Bytes sponsor NetOrca offers a service catalog that provides a simple front-end to make it easy for internal customers to come and consume those capabilities you’ve worked... Read more »

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we talk about accelerating dynamic content to improve application performance and the user experience. The increase of remote and hybrid workers, and more applications being delivered from the cloud, can complicate IT’s efforts to measure and improve application performance. Today’s sponsor, Palo Alto Networks, shares its approach to accelerating... Read more »

Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM) provides detailed visibility into end user device and application performance. On today’s sponsored episode, we talk with Palo Alto Networks about how it uses AIOps with ADEM to help IT and help desk teams quickly identify and respond to problems for a distributed workforce. We also discuss synthetic transactions, and... Read more »

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by Fortinet, we dive into Fortinet Advisor. This is a new generative AI offering designed to act as an assistant to SoC analysts and security teams by providing context-aware event summaries, potential impacts, and recommended responses while also keeping humans in the loop. Episode Guest: Kevin Faulkner |... Read more »

Network automation takes a variety of forms, from individual scripts that handle specific tasks, to workflows that have to be orchestrated across multiple devices and systems. Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we talk with sponsor Pliant about its automation platform. Pliant helps you orchestrate across devices and domains with a low-code approach that uses APIs to automate and orchestrate across your infrastructure. Our guests to introduce us to Pliant and what it can do for your network...

Distributed Denial of Service attacks, or DDoS, have plagued the Internet for decades. And attackers are finding new ways to take advantage of higher levels of bandwidth and the ever-growing number of network-connected devices. Today on Tech Bytes, sponsored by Nokia, we’ll talk about what’s brewing on the DDoS front and how Nokia’s Deepfield is bringing new analytics techniques to the fight. Our guest is Craig Labovitz, Head of Technology for Nokia Deepfield. Show Links: Deepfield...

Network engineers have a good grasp on how to build data center networks to support all kinds of apps, from traditional three-tier designs to applications built around containers and microservices. But what about building a network fabric to support AI? Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by Nokia, we talk about the special requirements to build a data center fabric for AI use cases such as training and inference. While Ethernet is still likely to be involved, an AI fabric has to be...

On today’s Packet Pusher’s Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by VMware, the conversation delves into HPE’s partnership with VMware, particularly around HPE Greenlake for VMware Cloud Foundation. HPE was recently recognized as VMware’s 2023 partner of the year. Today’s podcast features an interview with Frances Guida, Director, Compute Workload Solutions Product Management at HPE. The podcast conversation focuses on how the HPE and VMware partnership benefits customers’ multi-cloud initiatives and...

AI is making its way into network operations, and on today’s episode, sponsored by Nokia, we talk about how Nokia has developed a ChatGPT-based application that runs on its SR Linux network OS. Network engineers can use this app to query about network state, ask troubleshooting questions, check configurations, search logs, and quickly sort through reams of documentation. Our guest from Nokia to tell us more is Allan Jerret, Director, Data Center Switching Business Development. We...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we talk custom silicon with sponsor Nokia. Nokia has recently launched its new FPcx chip for Nokia routers. We’ll talk about the features and capabilities in the new silicon, and the value to service providers and enterprises that custom silicon can bring. Our guest is Jeff Jakab, VP of Hardware Product Management at Nokia. We discuss: * New features in Nokia’s FPcx routing silicon * Security features including DDoS protection * Routing platforms for...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we talk about techniques to improve user experience and application performance while also securing end users, applications, and devices. Our sponsor is Palo Alto Networks and we’ll talk about how Palo Alto Networks is integrating technologies such as Remote Browser Isolation and application acceleration into Prisma Access, their cloud-delivered security offering. My guest is Siva Rajasekaran, Director of Product Management at Palo Alto Networks. We...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, we talk with sponsor Palo Alto Networks about SD-WAN for retail locations. From securing payment card data to supporting customer Wi-Fi to connecting a multitude of IoT devices, a secure, reliable WAN is a must for retail. We talk with Palo Alto Networks about how SD-WAN can help retail locations get and keep shoppers in stores. Our guest is Anmol Das, Senior Manager for SD-WAN at Palo Alto Networks. We discuss: * Why a robust WAN is essential for...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, we talk with sponsor Palo Alto Networks about SD-WAN in healthcare markets. All networks use the same technology and components, but each market segment has its own demands. In the healthcare sector that includes stringent requirements around the privacy and security of patient information. That’s a particular challenge for smaller clinics and remote locations offering healthcare services outside of a central hospital or medical campus. Our guest is Rajesh...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we discuss the Network Automation Forum (NAF) and its inaugural independent conference AutoCon 0. The networking industry has been taking about automation forever, but most engineers and organizations don’t get much beyond a few scripts. The Network Automation Forum wants to change that by serving as a salon where enterprises, service providers, and vendors can talk openly about what works, what doesn’t, and how to advance the state of the art. We talk with...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we talk about monitoring network and application performance. Our sponsor is Catchpoint, and they’ve sent a customer, StackPath to talk about using Catchpoint in production. This includes real-time BGP monitoring and Catchpoint’s observability network that lets you test networks and applications from multiple vantage points, and instant tests when you need immediate data. Our guest is Sunny Shah, Senior Director, Platform Engineering, at StackPath. We...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we get into Digital Experience Monitoring, or DEM. DEM goes beyond traditional SLAs by offering more precise measurements of network and application performance as experienced by end users, and can provide detailed measurements to help network engineers identify and respond to problems. We talk with sponsor Fortinet about how it delivers DEM. Our guests are Kimberly Becan, Director of Products; and Alex Samonte, Field CTO. We discuss: * DEM as an evolution...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we explore Secure Web Gateways with sponsor Palo Alto Networks. Secure Web Gateways sit between users and Web traffic to enforce policies around Web and application access and inspect traffic for malware. We talk with Palo Alto Networks about customer challenges with secure Web gateways, innovations in Prisma Access Cloud Secure Web Gateways, and more. Our guest from Palo Alto Networks is Nithin Varam, Product Line Manager. We discuss: * Common networking...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we talk about traffic replication in SASE environments. Our sponsor is Palo Alto Networks, and they’ve added a new capability in Prisma Access that lets you replicate and then store traffic sent to the Prisma Access cloud service. That replicated traffic can then be used for deep packet analysis, forensics, or network analysis. We’ll talk about how Prisma Access replicates traffic, use cases, and more. Our guest is Tudor Andreescu, Product Line Manager at Palo...

In today’s Tech Byte, we’ve got Cisco ThousandEyes sharing new product capabilities, including ThousandEyes on Meraki MX and Webex RoomOS devices and faster insights into the root cause of problems your users are calling to complain about. We also discuss the recent acquisition of SamKnows, which gives ThousandEyes deeper visibility into ISPs. Our speaker is Alex Cruz Farmer, Group Product Manager, End-user Experience at ThousandEyes. Show Links: ThousandEyes.com/packetpushers New...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, we explore the concept of sovereign clouds with sponsor VMware. Sovereign clouds provide the agility and scale of the cloud while ensuring data resides in a specific country or geography and meets area requirements for security and privacy. We speak with Tietoevry, one of the first VMware partners to offer major sovereign cloud solutions for its Nordic clients. Our guest is Francisco Romero, Sovereign Hybrid Cloud Owner at Tietoevry. We discuss: How...

Today’s Tech Byte is a discussion on Nokia’s Photonic Service Engine (PSE) optics. Release 6 of its PSEs promises huge changes to DWDM Edge by bringing coherent optical DWDM circuits directly to your Nokia routers and switches. No more costly DWDM shelves and transponders just to terminate a tail circuit, reducing lead times and providing more options for resilience. We’ll talk about the challenge of moving and what Nokia  PSE-6 brings to the table. Our guest is Serge Melle, Head of...

SD-WAN provides new options for connecting branch locations to your headquarters, SaaS, and cloud applications. But SD-WAN is about more than just connectivity. By using multiple links simultaneously, SD-WAN lets you prioritize applications and services based on network performance. And because SD-WAN gateways are continuously measuring network performance, they can switch high-priority apps to the most performant link in real time. On today’s sponsored Tech Bytes podcast, we talk with Palo...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we explore the branch of the future with sponsor Palo Alto Networks. We talk about how SD-WAN and SASE come together with Digital Experience Management (DEM) to meet the challenges of security, cloud, and hybrid work at the branch. Our guest is Shankar Ramachandran, Director, Product Management at Palo Alto Networks. We discuss: * How digital-first initiatives affect branch networks * Identifying and segmenting IoT devices at the branch * How Palo Alto...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we pull back the covers on SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge. Fortinet is our sponsor. SASE is an agglomeration of multiple technologies including SD-WAN, and cloud-delivered security services such as application-aware firewalls, IPS, and Secure Web Gateway. Some SASE offerings also incorporate zero trust network access. One important concept to grasp around SASE is that it’s as much an architecture as it is a product. It requires planning and foresight to...

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we speak with sponsor Pica8 about how whitebox networking gives engineers the flexibility to choose the hardware and software that best meets their campus needs. Because Pica8’s network OS can run on multiple hardware platforms, engineers can overcome challenges including supply chain disruptions, end-of-life hardware, and security events. We discuss: * The benefits of disaggregating network hardware and software * Pica8’s network OS * How Pica8 enables...